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- The 17-year-old McIntosh came to Paris Games with high expectations after stellar performances over the past two years and she is more than matching her nation鈥檚 hopes
- Australia鈥檚 dominant women鈥檚 team continued their run of relay successes with victory in the 4x200m freestyle
PARIS: Canada鈥檚 Summer McIntosh enhanced her status as one of the standout stars of the Paris Olympics on Thursday, winning the women鈥檚 200m butterfly as powerhouses Australia won a fifth gold in the pool.
America鈥檚 Kate Douglass triumphed in the women鈥檚 200m breaststroke while Hungarian Hubert Kos took gold in the men鈥檚 200m backstroke.
Australia鈥檚 dominant women鈥檚 team continued their run of relay successes with victory in the 4x200m freestyle.
The 17-year-old McIntosh came to Paris Games with high expectations after stellar performances over the past two years and she is more than matching her nation鈥檚 hopes.
After winning the 400m medley and taking silver behind Ariarne Titmus in the 400m freestyle, McIntosh was favorite in an event where she has already won two world championships.
But her victory was emphatic as she produced the second-fastest time in history and the quickest in 15 years.
McIntosh hit the wall in an Olympic record 2min 03.03sec ahead of America鈥檚 Regan Smith and Chinese defending champion Zhang Yufei.
Her mother, Jill, had competed in the same event in the 1984 Los Angeles Games and the teenager was quick to remember that family history.
鈥淭he fact my mom did this event at the Olympics all the way back in 1984 and for me to be doing it now, I know she鈥檚 unbelievably proud of me,鈥� she told Canadian broadcaster CBC.
鈥淚t鈥檚 pretty unreal. The 200m fly I would say is one of my favorite races and it has been since I was a little kid. That last 50, I was just trying to feed off the crowd as much as possible. I knew it was going to be a fight to the wall.鈥�
South Africa鈥檚 Tatjana Smith fell just short of a repeat gold in her final race at the Olympics before her retirement, being pipped by the impressive Douglass in the women鈥檚 200m breaststroke.
Smith established an early lead but Douglass was impressive at the turns as she finished in a time of 2:19.24.
The 22-year-old Douglass was the silver medallist in the 200m breaststroke at the 2023 and 2024 world championships.
鈥淚鈥檓 really excited. For a while I wasn鈥檛 sure if Olympic champion was going to be possible for me to say, and now it鈥檚 just really exciting to see it happen,鈥� she said.
Smith, who won gold in the 200m breaststroke in Tokyo under her maiden name Schoenmaker and gold in 100m breaststroke earlier this week, confirmed she was bowing out of the sport.
鈥淚 think it鈥檚 really just now embracing life and seeing what鈥檚 outside of swimming like my passions outside of swimming,鈥� said the 27-year-old.
Hungary has a rich swimming tradition but was without a gold in Paris until Kos produced a turbo-charged final lap to overtake Greece鈥檚 Apostolos Christou.
The 2023 world champion, who is trained by Michael Phelps鈥檚 former coach Bob Bowman, produced a devastating final 25 meters to leave the Greek in his wake and finish a comfortable winner in the end.
It continues an impressive Olympics for Bowman鈥檚 swimmers, with French favorite Leon Marchand having already claimed three gold medals.
鈥淲ithout him I鈥檇 probably be like 15th in the 2IM (200m Individual Medley) right now. It鈥檚 been an incredible journey with him, and I鈥檓 just to happy be part of a team like that,鈥� said Kos, who swims at Arizona State University.
鈥淭he magic touch is the work. He doesn鈥檛 let us be second best. He doesn鈥檛 let us stoop down to a level he doesn鈥檛 want from us. That brings out the best in us.鈥�
The USA has dominated the women鈥檚 4x200m freestyle relay but Australia came out on top in an Olympic record time of 7:38.08, with Ariarne Titmus sealing the deal.